


Atmospheric Pressure

by imagine0314



Category: Horizon: Zero Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Comfort, F/F, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-21
Updated: 2020-05-21
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:08:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24301117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imagine0314/pseuds/imagine0314
Summary: Drabble prompt request where Talanah comforts Aloy during a storm. Uses the continuity from my seriesSobeck Women.
Relationships: Aloy/Talanah Khane Padish
Comments: 11
Kudos: 61





	Atmospheric Pressure

She flinches and shudders, body tense and tight at the sight of the sky flashing purple.  
  
Her jaw clenches and she tries not to gasp when the rolling growl of thunder comes soon after.  
  
“Scared?” Talanah asks softly, eyes wide with concern. Aloy can see the lavender horizon reflected in them.  
  
The redhead frowns. 

Scared.  
  
They call her the Anointed. The Machine Rider. The Seeker. Huntress. 

They’re all titles meant to make her seem more imposing. Untouchable. Fearless. 

How could someone like that be _scared?_  
  
Her scowl deepens but flashes into something raw and vulnerable as the next clap echoes through the desert. The sound is so big, so deep, that Aloy swears the sky might just open up and swallow her whole.

Talanah leans into her side, pressing a kiss to the redhead’s bare, freckled shoulder. The two women lay in bed, watching the storm play out through the window in their shared bedroom.  
  
“I’m _not_ scared,” Aloy insists. How could she be?  
  
It had been two years since she had defeated HEPHAESTUS, and less than three months since they’d moved off the mesa to the outskirts of the village below in their own home. And compared to that? This is _nothing._ She’s _safe_. She knows this. 

So why does this storm make her feel like a child again, running back through the forest to take shelter in Rost’s cabin? She remembers hiding under her furs, then, covering her ears and closing her eyes to the storm outside. Rost had sat with her in silence, much like Talanah is now.

The Sun-Hawk slides her arm around Aloy’s middle, adding just enough force to calm the redhead. Talanah’s silent movements tell her that the Carja knows she’s terrified despite her protesting. 

She doesn’t argue.

“I don’t know why it bothers me,” the redhead finally admits. “It hasn’t been like this since I was a child.”  
  


“Not while you were traveling alone?” Talanah asks softly, pressing yet another kiss to the nape of Aloy’s neck.

“There wasn’t time. If I didn’t keep moving, doing whatever came next, people--the world--was going to _die_ . I couldn’t linger on things like this. It just...wasn’t important.”  
  
“You’re allowed,” Talanah says quietly.  
  
“Hm?”  
  
“You’re allowed to be afraid sometimes, you know.”

The sheets are soft Carja cotton, the air is warm and humid, and the woman she loves is slowly tangling around her, closer and closer to keep her from shaking despite the heat. She _shouldn’t_ be afraid. 

She’s spent _so long_ trying not to be afraid. 

She’s failing.

Talanah’s arms are secured around her ribs, the Sun-Hawk’s bare chest pressed firmly against her shoulder blades. Aloy begins to breathe a sigh of relief before hearing another echoing rumble through the desert, the flash of lightning causing her to jump. Her hands ball into fists, clutching the sheets tightly and Talanah can feel the redhead’s heart pounding.

“When I was little, storms used to make me inconsolable,” the Sun-Hawk whispers into Aloy’s throat. 

The redhead says nothing, but she listens, the dark-haired woman beginning to stroke her fingers through fiery hair.  
  
“The Derangement didn’t start until I was almost two years old. Even for a few years after, it was still mostly rumor from the hunters. So when I was a child...the machines didn’t strike fear in everyone the way they do now. When the storms hit, my mother would tell Bratavin and I a story about them to calm us down.”  
  
“What did she say?"  
  
Aloy could feel the Sun-Hawk’s smile against her skin.  
  
“She said that there was nothing to be afraid of because the Sun had asked the Stormbirds to bring us lightning and thunder to clear the sky of clouds and allow him to shine all the brighter the next day and light our way with blessings. Back then, the Stormbirds really did just glide along the air, not really bothering anyone,” Talanah recalls wistfully. “I used to love watching them from our balcony. So I felt better knowing that the Sun Himself had asked them to help. I knew they would never hurt me. Or at least that’s what I thought back then”  
  
“Your mother told you this?”  
  
Talanah nods into her skin.  
  
“Mhmm.”

“How old were you when she--?”  
  
“Five. So...there’s not much I remember.”  
  
“But you remember this.”  
  
“I remember this.”  
  
The sky lights up again outside their window and this time, Aloy allows Talanah’s grasp to tighten around her, the pressure and heat overpowering her inclination to flinch. Instantly, she feels softer, body relaxing into the Sun-Hawk’s form.  
  
“I think it makes me feel better too,” Aloy says.  
  
“My mother’s story? Even after all those years of the Stormbirds attacking on sight?”  
  
Aloy nods. “Not because of the Stormbirds. Because you were here with me to tell it.”  
  
“I’m always here, little Thrush. Not going anywhere.”  
  
The redhead leans her head back against Talanah’s shoulder, brows furrowed. “I know.”

Aloy releases a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding and suddenly the Sun-Hawk’s hands are sliding low down around her waist and hips.  
  
“But if you’d rather I distract you with something _else_ , just say the word.”

She’s _safe_. She knows this. 

She _feels_ this.

Aloy smirks.  
  
Maybe storms didn’t have to be so bad after all.  
  
  
  
  



End file.
